The crime of Wyatt Matthews

National Review, June 29, 1984 by Joseph A. Rehyansky

The amici from the ACLU on behalf of Matthews and from the Department of Justice on behalf on the prosecution argued brilliantly. Captain Michael Pfau was lead counsel for the prosecution and primary drafter of the government's two-hundred-page final brief. His argument was articulate and aggressive, his responses to questions unhesitating and, when necessary,innovative. His knowledge of the case and the applicable law was simply exhaustive. The reactions of appellate judges on the bench do not always presage their ruling, but in this case they were clearly unreceptive to most of the prosecution's theories on constitutionality in sentencing procedures. The judges did not want to discuss the crime itself--that was not one of the more important issues specifically before the court--and when Captain Pfau tried to, chief Judge Everett told him courteously that the facts of the offense were familiar to the court.

On October 11, 1983, the court issued its 39-page decision, the heart of which reads:

To pass the test of constitutionality, each "aggravating circumstance" which the jury found and upon which its decision was based "must genuinely narrow the class of persons eligible for the death penalty and must reasonably justify the imposition of a more severe sentence on the defendant compared to others found guilty of murder." . . . Unfortunately, neither the [Uniform] Code [of military Justice' nor the Manual [for Courts Martial' requires that the court members specifically identify the aggravating factors upon which they have relied in choosing to impose the death penalty. Since they provide no insight into their sentencing deliberations, it is impossible upon review to determine whether they have made an "imdividualized determination on the basis of the character of the individual and the circumstances of the crime," and whether they have "adequately differentiate[d] this case in an objective, even-handed, and substantively rational way" from the other murder cases in which the death penalty was not imposed....

The evidence of record in this case provides ample aggravating circumstances to distinguish it from other murder cases and to justify the imposition of the sentence imposed. However, the lack of specific findings of identified aggravating circumstances makes meaningful appellate review ... impossible, and we cannot be sure that the sentence was correctly imposed....

... The decision of the United States Army Court of Military Review is reversed as to sentence...

However, the court went on to state that "a conviction of premeditated murder can sustain a death sentence if proper sentencing procedures are employed" and the "great breadth of the delegation of power to the President by Congress with respect to court-martial procedures and sentences grants him the authority to remedy the present defect in the court-martial sentencing procedure for capital cases." If Congress or the President were to promulgate new sentencing procedures consistent with the decision within ninety days of the court's mandate, a rehearing convened solely to address the matter of an appropriate sentence for Matthews could be ordered, and he could again be sentenced to death.